Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ABSTRACT: There is no doubt that climate change and climate induced-disasters pose a significant
challenge to poverty reduction, health and development in many developing countries, including India. Odishas
geographic location on the east coast of India and its climatic condition have meant that the state has
historically been highly prone to climate change and multiple hazards, mainly cyclones, droughts and floods. Its
fluctuating weather conditions suggest that Odisha is stumbling under climatic chaos. The state has been
declared disaster-affected for 95 years of the last 105 years: floods have occurred for 50 years, droughts for 32
years and cyclones have struck the state for 11 years. After independence less importance has been given to the
state as well as the development strategies of the state have tended to overlook the climate change, health,
poverty related issues. The findings of the study highlight that there is a scarcity of research which can focus on
different climatic induced calamity issues. Strong political will, strengthen infrastructures, public private
partnership and community involvement and better planning can go beyond risk management to look at actions
that address climate change and deliver benefits for growth and development. There is an urgent need to focus
on the climate change, disasters and their vulnerability, and adaptation and coping mechanisms among the
people in the state. The study recommends for future research and policy advocacy for better solutions and
development strategies in the state.
Keywords: climate change, disasters, impact, adaptation, Odisha, India
I. Background
Climate change is now a global phenomena and its impact on population, health and poverty are not deniable.
There is no doubt that climate change and climate induced-disasters pose a significant challenge to poverty
reduction, health and development in many countries. However, the impacts of climate change, and the
vulnerability of poor communities to climate change, vary greatly, but generally, climate change is
superimposed on existing vulnerabilities. Climate change will further reduce access to drinking water,
negatively affect the health of poor people, and will pose a real threat to food security in many countries in
Africa, Asia, and Latin America (Sperling, 2003). It is well evident that recent climate-induced disasters have
had direct impacts on poor countries and on poor people. The poverty-climate links focused on the poor as the
most vulnerable to climate change is now a days one of the emerging international attention, as they have the
least human, financial, and technical resources to adapt (Sperling, 2003; Burton et al, 2002; Tol et al, 2004).
According to the third assessment report of the IPCC (2014), developing countries are expected to suffer the
most from the negative impacts of climate change (IPCC, 2014). This is due to the economic importance of
climate-sensitive sectors (for example, agriculture, water resources and fisheries) to these countries, and to their
limited human, institutional, and financial capacity to anticipate and respond to the direct and indirect effects of
climate change. In general, the vulnerability is highest in least developed countries in the tropical and
subtropical areas. Hence, the countries with the fewest resources are likely to bear the greatest burden of climate
change in terms of loss of life and relative effect on investment and the economy (Sperling, 2003).
www.ijhssi.org
60 | Page
Climate Change and Climate-Induced Disasters in Odisha, Eastern India: Impacts, Adaptation and..
GoO, 2002e). Ray Bennett (2009) reported that Odisha is the land of multiple disasters. For over a decade now,
Odisha has been teetering from one extreme weather condition to another: from heat waves to cyclones, drought
to floods (Ray-Bennett, 2009). The state has been declared disaster-affected for 95 years of the last 105 years:
floods have occurred for 50 years, droughts for 32 years and cyclones have struck the state for 11 years
(Mohapatra, 2006). Since 1965, these calamities have not only become more frequent, they are striking areas
that have never experienced such conditions before. For instance, a heat wave in 1998 killed around 2,200
people - most of the casualties were from coastal Odisha, a region known for its moderate climate. Since 1998,
almost 3,000 people have died due to heat stroke. Odisha has experienced around 952 small and big cyclones
and 451 tornadoes between 1891 and 1970. From 1901 to 1981 there were 380 cyclones, of which 272 resulted
from depressions in the Bay of Bengal. Twenty-nine of these cyclones were devastating. A study of the effects
of natural disasters reveals that between 1963 and 1999, Odisha experienced 13 major disasters, which killed
22,228 people (state government figure; non-government figure puts the toll at around 40,000), and rendered
more than 34 lakhs of people homeless (Mohapatra, 2006). The states mean daily maximum temperature is also
gradually rising, as also the mean daily minimum temperature. According to data from the weather department,
in the last 50 years the states average temperature has gone up by 1 degree. The Titilagarh and Koraput belt
comprising south and west Odisha has witnessed an exceptional increase in daily maximum and minimum
temperatures (Hedger, 2010).
Its fluctuating weather conditions suggest that Odisha is stumbling under climatic chaos. According to the state
governments Human Development Report 2004, property loss has been steadily growing every year over the
past few decades due to climate change and disasters (GoO, 2004). Odisha is rainfall dependent as its irrigation
network does not cover the entire state. With a water dependent crop, rice, as its main staple, the agriculture
sector is vulnerable to the vagaries of climate-induced weather changes. Food security is also threatened in
different parts of Odisha due to climate change induced disasters. Rise in temperature and sea level has made
agriculture vulnerable as the gushing seawater combined with erratic rain often destroys the crops. Seawater is
more often gushing into the agricultural land filling with saline water, which directly affecting the farmers and
slowly weakening the productivity of the state. As per Global Environmental Negotiation journal, if sea level
rises 1 meter from the current level, 1,70,000 hectare of cultivable land in Orissa will be submerged (Pati, 2009).
Agriculture across the coast of Odisha is now facing a serious climate emergency. In terms of health impact of
the climate change, the vector borne disease Malaria is rampant in many parts of the state. At the same time,
due to deviation in the pattern of rainfall, neither during heavy rainfall nor during scanty rainfall, water
percolating to the ground water table. In addition, due to massive de-forestation and soil erosion, the perennial
sources like streams are vanished, rivers are getting flat and ground water is no more getting recharged through
those perennial sources. The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has clearly indicated that the ground water
of 24 out of 30 districts in Orissa is depleting (Pati, 2009). The ground water aquifers in many regions of the
state have already gone dry. Ground water is the last hope of a water starved population. The climatic variations
could further multiply the vulnerability of poor by adversely affecting their health and livelihoods and
hampering the development of the state. It is evident that climate change in Odisha has the potential to
tremendously aggravate water stress, food security and health system.
www.ijhssi.org
61 | Page
Climate Change and Climate-Induced Disasters in Odisha, Eastern India: Impacts, Adaptation and..
nature of disasters or extreme events. Accordingly, the strategies practiced to reduce vulnerability are classified
into four groups, namely common strategies for any extreme events in general, specific strategies to reduce
drought, flood, and cyclone impacts.
References
[1].
[2].
Sperling, F. (ed.) (2003): Poverty and Climate ChangeReducing the Vulnerability of the Poor through Adaptation. AFDB, ADB,
DFID, EC DG Development, BMZ, DGIS, OECD, UNDP, UNEP and the World Bank, Washington, DC, USA, xii+43 pp. <
http://www.oecd.org/environment/climatechange/2502872.pdf>
Burton, I., Huq, S., Lim, B., Pilifosova, O. and Schipper, E.L. (2002): From Impacts to Adaptation Priorities: the Shaping of
Adaptation Policy, Climate Policy, 2(23), 145159.
www.ijhssi.org
62 | Page
Climate Change and Climate-Induced Disasters in Odisha, Eastern India: Impacts, Adaptation and..
[3].
[4].
[5].
[6].
[7].
[8].
[9].
[10].
[11].
[12].
[13].
[14].
[15].
Tol, R.S.J., Downing, T.E., Kuik, O.J. and Smith, J.B. (2004): Distributional Aspects of Climate Change Impacts, Global
Environmental Change, 14, 259-272.
IPCC (2014): Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects, in Contribution
of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Cambridge University
Press: Cambridge, UK; New York, NY, USA, 2014; pp. 709754.
Bhatta, B.B (1997): The Natural Calamities of Orissa in the 19th Century. 1997. Commonwealth Publisher, New Delhi.
Government of Orissa (2002a): Managing Disasters in Orissa: Background, Challenges and Perspectives. State Disaster Mitigation
Authority (OSDMA), Bhubaneswar.
Government of Orissa (2002b): Orissa State Development Report, Nabakrishna Choudhury Centre for Development Studies,
Bhubaneswar.
Government of Orissa (2002c): Block Disaster Management Plan: Balikuda Block, Jagatsighpur District 2002. Prepared by
Balikuda Panchayat Samiti, Bhubaneswar.
Government of Orissa (2002d): Annual Report on Natural Calamities: 200102. Revenue Department, OSDMA, Bhubaneswar.
Government of Orissa (2002c): Interim Report on Drought Situation in Orissa 2002. Revenue Department, OSDMA, Bhubaneswar.
Ray-Bennett, N.S. (2009): Multiple Disasters and Policy Responses in Pre- and Post-independence Orissa, India, Disasters, 33(2),
274-90. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2008.01074.x.
Mohapatra, R. (2006): Disaster Dossier: The Impact of Climate Change on Orissa, Infochange. News and Analysis on Social Justice
and Development Issues in India. www.infochangeindia.org <Accessed on 23rd April, 2016>.
Hedger, M. (2010): Moving Forward on Climate Change Planning Lessons from Orissa, Policy Brief, Climate and Development
Knowledge Network, November, 2010.
Government of Orissa (2004): Human Development Report 2004. Bhubaneswar.
Pati,
B.K.
(2009):
Nothing
is
Predictable
Here:
Climate
Change
in
Orissa,
Orissadiary.
http://orissadiary.com/ShowOriyaColumn.asp?id=12983 <Accessed on 25 th April, 2016>.
www.ijhssi.org
63 | Page